Last gasp approval

Hours before the previous Parliament broke up (May 2024), the Tories formally designated a new policy to make it even easier to bulldoze new roads through our countryside. Astonishingly, Labour has decided to back this policy. We urgently need your help to fund a legal challenge against it as we're in court on 3 December.

But hasn’t it all changed now?

Yes it has, but while Labour has cancelled a few road schemes and is promising integrated transport, it is still committed to cut back planning “to forge ahead with new roads”.

We tried our best to get it changed

We did all we could to stop this happening. We helped hundreds of people feed into the consultation responses, persuaded MPs of all parties on the Transport Select Committee to tell the Tories to think again and put net zero to the fore of a rewritten policy. We had high hopes for a change of direction. However, if we had not filed legal papers on the day of the election, within the six week deadline, this damaging new policy would be unchallengeable for years to come.

Why is this policy important?

Technically known as the National Networks National Planning Statement (NNNPS), it has a title that discourages engagement. 

Yet it is a legally binding policy that ties the hands of future governments.

It creates a legal presumption in favour of road-building - on the basis that big increases in traffic are, in the minds of ministers, inevitable. 

Not only does this tip the scales of justice against communities in planning, the traffic forecasts make it hard to justify investment in public transport and active travel schemes. You know, the ones that might actually give us a hope to cut motor traffic.

Carbon emissions are irrelevant

The policy deems carbon emissions irrelevant to planning decisions on transport, on the basis that the government has a credible plan in place to meet legal targets. With the High Court ruling earlier in May that it didn't, we were dismayed that the Tories in the last hours of their rule locked us into speeding towards climate breakdown.

Shock as new Government defends Tory policy

But the biggest surprise came at the end of the summer. 

After asking the courts for extra time, the new Government suddenly decided to defend the Tories’ case.

Why on earth would Labour step into their shoes, or should that be driving seat, and carry on as before? So much for change.

Perhaps it's the Get Britain Building bravado. Yet for all the talk about economic growth, the evidence is clear the case for road schemes has collapsed.

There are better ways

The tragedy is we know how to get growth, how to cut pollution, how to improve social mobility. High quality public transport like trams and rapid rail would transform our cities and their prospects. 

But the NNNPS fails to support light rail or require rail electrification.

The last plan for Leeds, the biggest city in western Europe without a metro system, got thrown out in 2016 due to a lack of supportive national policy.

A precedent for airport expansion?

Our fear is that if Labour can get this through then they'll do the same for flying, saying if the planning system doesn't need to block roads, it shouldn't stop runways too. With transport set to be well over a third of all carbon emissions by 2030, this would be a disaster for the climate, nature and humanity.

Who is bringing the case

Established in 2019, Transport Action Network (TAN) is a small and agile NGO that operates at both the national and grassroots level. We support local communities press for more sustainable travel and help them oppose cuts to bus and rail services as well as damaging road schemes. 

We have a fantastic legal team led by David Wolfe KC, a highly ranked environmental lawyer, instructed by Leigh Day solicitors.

What next?

We now need to raise £8,000 to cover the initial costs of bringing this judicial review. This includes court fees, our own legal team and funding to cover the risk of being required to pay the DfT’s costs. We have already raised over £27,000 of our initial target of £35,000 from other sources but we need the final £8,000 to continue. If we are successful at this stage we will need to raise more funding for a full hearing.

Please help us by sharing this appeal widely, and thanks so much for reading this!

Chris and the rest of the team at TAN

PS - if we’re lucky enough to raise more than required we would use any surplus money to support local groups with their campaigning.